Did somebody say chocolate???

Chocolate is my downfall!!!  I love dark chocolate, bittersweet chocolate, semi sweet chocolate, white chocolate, milk chocolate, German chocolate, chocolate with nuts, chocolate with caramel…I LOVE chocolate!!!  So when I found this recipe I knew I had to try it.  BUT if I tried it I had to make sure it wouldn’t stay in the house for too long because my thighs would pay dearly for it!!!  So lucky for me we have a PTA potluck to go to and I won’t sit in the pantry stuffing my face with them!

Doesn’t this look YUMMY!!!!

Here is the recipe I used for them…

Chocolate Cupcakes

1/2 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder

1 cup boiling hot water

1 1/3 cups all purpose flour (sifted)

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup granulated white sugar

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  Lightly butter, or line 16-20 muffin cups with paper liners.

In a small bowl stir until smooth the boiling hot water and the cocoa powder. Let cool to room temperature.

In another bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt.

Then cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating until smooth. Beat in the vanilla extract. Add the flour mixture and beat only until it's incorporated. Then add the cooled cocoa mixture and stir until smooth.

Fill each muffin cup two-thirds full with batter and bake for about 16-20 minutes or until risen, springy to the touch, and a toothpick inserted into a cupcake comes out clean.

Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool. Once the cupcakes have completely cooled, frost with icing. You can either spread the frosting on the cupcakes with a small spatula or if piping, use a large Wilton 1M open star tip to the swirls.

Chocolate Mascarpone Frosting

4 ounces unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped

2/3 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
8oz Mascarpone cheese or can substitute cream cheese

2 cups confectioners (powdered or icing) sugar, sifted

1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl placed over a saucepan of simmering water. Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature.

In the bowl of your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, beat the butter until smooth and creamy (about 1 minute). Add the sugar and beat until it is light and fluffy (about 2 minutes). Beat in the vanilla extract. Add the chocolate and beat on low speed until incorporated. Then add mascarpone cheese until mixed well.  Increase the speed to medium-high and beat until frosting is smooth and glossy (about 2 -3 minutes).

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I’ve also been busy doing some PTA stuff.  We went to a PTA conference in Austin and had a great time.  Here are a couple of pictures of that…

Yes the snake did scare me!!!

This is a really cool sticker and pencil machine to help with raising money at our school…it of course will have our mascot in place of the one they used for demo.

I’m doing the Vanna White…hee hee.